DHL boss predicts shipping decline
The head of DHL Global Forwarding has announced the company expects shipping volume around the world to decline by 20% in the first part of 2009 and by 10% for the full year.
The head of DHL Global Forwarding has announced the company expects shipping volume around the world to decline by 20% in the first part of 2009 and by 10% for the full year.
The grim outlook, which counts ocean and air shipments, forecast only slow improvement in global trade in 2010, based on ongoing shipment data and reports from customers on their expectations.
Hermann Ude, chief executive officer of DHL Global Forwarding and Freight, said business out of Asia is particularly weak, with exports from China and Hong Kong, leading the downturn. He pointed to figures such as the International Air Transport Association’s report of a 22% decline in international air freight in December as harbingers of even greater weakness this year.
“We would assume a 20% reduction in volume in the first three or four months” of 2009, he told reporters in Washington, USA. “We are preparing for the rest of the year for what we think will end a year that is 10% below last year in volume.”
DHL is not forecasting a strong recovery after the freight retrenchment, however. “Shipping will go up only slowly. We expect the first significant signs of improvement in 2010. We are reading the shipment data and what customers are telling us about their plans. … We don’t trust any of these official numbers that are being put out (about economic projections). So based on what customers are telling us, we would expect to see a big upturn in 2010,” he said.
